Desperate Measures
by Questfan
Summary: Lucas is being blackmailed
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the seaQuest crew sadly but I am having some fun with them. This is my first fanfic so be nice!**

**Desperate Measures**

**Chapter One**

"Hey, Kiddo. Movie's over. Time to wake up," Bridger smiled as he gently shook the sleeping teenager. Tonight's movie obviously wasn't to Lucas' taste as he had fallen asleep half way into it. Other members of the crew were busy gathering up discarded coffee mugs and empty bowls while the captain tried again to wake Lucas.

Lucas begrudgingly opened one eye and squinted against the brightness of the lights that Ben had just turned on. His right arm ached terribly and his neck was stiff from the awkward way he had slept on it. He would have preferred to just slide back into sleep but it was obvious the captain wasn't going to let that happen. He already got enough of an earful whenever he fell asleep over his computer keyboard in his quarters. There was no way Bridger was going to let him sleep on a chair in the mess hall.

As the last of the credits rolled up the screen Lucas tried to recall what the movie had been about. Something about some villain who wanted to take over the world (don't they all?) and the ever resourceful hero who came in, guns blazing and saved the day.

"_Typical Ben selection_," thought Lucas with a wry grin at his friend's rather limited taste in entertainment.

"What's so funny?" asked Bridger as he helped Lucas into a sitting position.

"Just thinking that I've seen that movie at least ten times before."

"But it's only just come out and I got one of the first copies. I have special supply channels," protested Ben. "You couldn't possibly have seen it before!"

"I just meant that it seemed an awful lot like most of your other movie choices. At least the movies that I'm allowed to watch," answered Lucas with a sideways glance at Bridger. The captain ignored the comment and instead steered the still groggy teenager towards the door.

"Come on, Lucas. I need my beauty sleep and, well, you just need your sleep." Bridger had an arm around Lucas' shoulder and they walked slowly but comfortably towards the door. "These guys can clean up quite well without our help."

Lucas just yawned and nodded in agreement as he realised just how tired he was. He had been up most of the last few nights trying to iron out the kinks in his new computer program but there was no way he was going to let the captain know that. He was almost bursting at the seams over this program because of the enormous potential in new applications. It just wouldn't do _exactly_ what he wanted it to each time he ran a diagnostic. Hence the late nights and lack of sleep as his agile brain ran the calculations from every conceivable angle. There was no way a computer program was going to beat him.

The movie tonight had been Ben's idea and he couldn't have gotten out of it without letting on about his late nights. Unfortunately it hadn't been interesting enough to keep him awake. He had hoped to just snooze unnoticed but he'd been caught out. Lucas rubbed absently at his sore neck and smiled to himself as he recalled one of the more far-fetched scenes in the movie.

"What are you smiling about?" asked Bridger as they walked along the corridor towards Lucas' quarters.

"Just thinking how the hero seemed so unreal. I mean, what kind of person talks like him?" laughed Lucas. "If I was the hero I'd have a much cooler way of speaking."

"Oh really?" laughed Bridger. "I s'pose you'd be telling the damsel in distress she could "chill" while you "take out the bad dudes" huh?"

"Uh, Captain, "chill" hasn't been in since before I was born!" groaned Lucas, "And what's a "dude"?"

Bridger playfully swatted Lucas behind the head and grinned as he said, "Are you saying I'm out of touch with current trendy terms?"

'Well, uh, maybe, um ….yeah!" laughed Lucas as he ducked another swat. He quickly rattled off a list that only a teenager could decipher and laughed as Bridger pretended to nod with understanding.

Suddenly the captain stopped walking and looked at Lucas. "That last one wasn't a real word!" he said. Lucas just looked back with an air of innocence but a smile played at his lips. Under the captain's close scrutiny he couldn't keep a straight face and burst out laughing.

"No, I'm just messing with you," he agreed.

They had arrived at Lucas' door and the captain smiled at his young charge. "I know you are but now it's time to get some sleep. And no working on that computer program tonight," he warned with a suddenly serious face. "The world can wait at least twenty four hours longer for it. The computers will continue to function you know."

A look of surprise fleetingly ran over Lucas' face but he managed to cover it with a yawn. "I don't know what you mean," he started but one look at his captain stopped the argument dead in its tracks.

"You need to be wide awake and on your game tomorrow. You've got a meeting with Admiral Rogers remember?"

Lucas frowned at the mention of the meeting. He had been invited, or summonsed was a better description, to UEO headquarters for a meeting with a man he had never met and no reason had been given as to why. He knew the UEO could be secretive but something just didn't sit well with him about this. A feeling of unease had been growing in the pit of his stomach for the past three days as they had gotten closer to port. He had just tried to shrug it off but now it was back as the captain reminded him of the meeting. The fact that Captain Bridger didn't like Admiral Rogers didn't help. There was some bad blood between them that the captain refused to discuss but that wasn't it.

As Lucas crawled into bed he couldn't shake the feeling that something was really wrong and nothing good was going to come from this meeting tomorrow. As he fell asleep he remembered the look on Bridger's face when the admiral had called through on the vidlink. He hadn't quite been quick enough to hide his distaste when Tim O'Neill had announced the man's name.

* * *

Lucas awoke with only a vague memory of the dream he had been having. He was still in that no-man's land where you know you are awake but aren't quite with it yet. An unsettling feeling caused him to shiver slightly and then he remembered what it was that he'd been dreaming about. Captain Bridger had been arguing with Admiral Rogers and their voices were getting louder and angrier by the minute. Since it was a dream the voices were vague and distorted so Lucas couldn't quite make out the words. The passion behind them was unmistakable though.

Lucas remembered the look on the captain's face when he heard Admiral Rogers' name announced the other day. He had quickly covered it with his captain's face but Lucas had seen it nonetheless. He was tuned in to Bridger well enough to recognise that the captain didn't trust the admiral.

"_What could have happened between them?"_ Lucas wondered. "_It's not like the captain to hold onto a grudge but he really doesn't like this guy."_

Lucas shrugged off the thought as he climbed out of bed and tried to find something reasonable to wear to his meeting. As a teenager he didn't have a whole lot of suitable choices but then he figured the powers-that-be at the UEO weren't really calling him in to have a chat about his fashion sense. With a quick flick through the clothes that were actually hanging up he settled on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a blue jacket. It'd have to do because he had missed the laundry run again and there wasn't much else to choose from. As he was looking around the room for a hairbush there was a quick knock on the door.

"Come in," he called and went back to his search. Captain Bridger stepped into room and smiled broadly at the teenager standing in front of him. For all his genius and teenage attitude, Lucas was still just a kid. The sight of a pile of discarded clothes on the floor reminded him of just how sloppy Robert had been at that age. His idea of military discipline didn't seem to have extended to his son's bedroom. Lucas seemed, if anything, to live in an even bigger state of disarray but maybe that had something to with the size of his quarters.

"_Then again, maybe not,"_ smiled Bridger to himself.

"Come on, Kiddo. You need to get moving if you're going to make your meeting on time. You still have time for a quick breakfast but you'll have to get going." Bridger watched the teenager for any sign of how he felt about this meeting but got nothing. Sometimes Lucas could be an open book but at other times he could clam up and not reveal anything about what he was thinking. As Bridger walked with him down to the mess hall he tried again to assess what Lucas was feeling but got nothing but a non-committal shrug of the shoulders.

For his part, Bridger was more than worried about the upcoming meeting. He didn't trust Rogers as far as he could throw him and now the man was taking an interest in Lucas. Bridger felt a fatherly protectiveness rising in his chest at the thought of allowing the man anywhere near Lucas but he knew he couldn't defy a UEO directive without drawing attention to things that were better left buried.

"Lucas …" the captain started but then didn't seem to know how to go on. "Lucas, please promise me that you will listen _very_ carefully to whatever Admiral Rogers has to say today."

"Uh yeah, sure," Lucas replied with a questioning look at his captain. "_What was he hinting at?" _Lucas wondered.

Later, as he stood at the cargo bay doors, watching Lucas board a shuttle with several other crewmembers, Bridger again felt the anxiety rising in his chest. Logically he knew Lucas was safe going into UEO Headquarters. After all it was one of the most secure places on Earth but he couldn't help but wonder what Rogers wanted with the boy. The man had a way of getting things done that was far from conventional and more than one junior officer had come off second best from an encounter with him. He surrounded himself with people who were prepared to look the other way when necessary. Lucas could rub people the wrong way if he got into one of his smart alec moods and Rogers was not someone you wanted to rub the wrong way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Lucas sat in the brown leather chair and tried not to squirm. He had been ushered into the admiral's office almost 15 minutes earlier and told that the admiral would be right in but so far there was no sign of him. What he didn't know was that in another room three men stood watching a vidscreen that showed the blonde teenager fidgeting in the overstuffed chair. "I think that's long enough to keep our young friend waiting, don't you gentlemen?" asked Admiral Rogers. The other two just nodded in agreement. After all, disagreeing with this man wasn't a good career move.

Admiral Rogers strode into his office with the air of someone who is used to being obeyed at once. He smiled at Lucas but there was no warmth in the expression. Lucas stood to attention as the man entered but the Admiral waved him back to his seat.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I just had a few things to finish up. Now I trust you had a good trip in this morning? Would you care for any refreshments? Coffee perhaps? We have some of the real stuff here, not that freeze dried rubbish you get on _seaQuest_." As Lucas listened to the man prattle on he couldn't help but think how insincere he sounded. Oh yeah, the words were right but the tone wasn't. Captain Bridger had been right to warn him to _really_ listen to what this man had to say. Something was coming and this was just the warm up.

Before he knew it someone was coming through the door with two cups of steaming coffee. They really did smell good. There was no beating the real deal when it came to coffee. Maybe he could pick up some fresh beans before heading back out to _seaQuest_ later today. He knew how much Captain Bridger loved his coffee. It was one of many things they had in common. He smiled at the thought of how many times they had talked over a cup of coffee but suddenly remembered where he was and turned on his serious face. He didn't want to reflect badly on the _seaQuest _or Captain Bridger by behaving like a kid. After all he'd been told he was a valued member of the crew and needed to behave as such.

He reeled in his thoughts and focused his full attention on the Admiral. The man had already started speaking and Lucas had missed it! "_Damn!" _he thought. _"Pay attention"._

"So you see, Lucas, the UEO is _very _interested in your new computer program. We have some friends who would be very appreciative of what it can do. " The admiral smiled at him but Lucas had the feeling he was looking at a wolf rather than a friend.

"Well, Sir, it isn't exactly working to specs yet. I'm still trying to iron out a few bugs," Lucas said rather tentatively. The man was after something and he was playing his cards close to his chest. Again Bridger's warning rang in Lucas' ears. Listen _carefully! _

"So when do you think it will be sorted out?" asked the admiral, leaning forward in his chair.

"Well, to be honest, I don't know. It's at least a few weeks away by the time I run full diagnostics."

"A few weeks!" The admiral almost jumped up but suddenly reigned in his anger and smiled at Lucas. As he settled back into the chair, he reminded Lucas of a snake, coiled and ready to strike. He was just eyeing up his prey first. Lucas involuntarily leaned back into his chair and tried to get as far back from this man as he could. He suddenly felt very vulnerable sitting here alone and wished he was back on the _seaQuest_ where he belonged.

"And then I was planning to put it out on the market and see who's interested. There are lot's of possible applications you see and…"

"This isn't something you can put out on the open market! This belongs to the UEO young man. Don't forget who feeds you, boy!" spluttered the admiral. All thoughts of friendly chats over cups of coffee had just completely evaporated.

Lucas saw red at being addressed as "boy" and spoke out before really thinking what he was saying. "The UEO may "feed me" as you put it but it doesn't own my spare time or my intellectual property!" He glared at the admiral. "I have every right to put my own program on the market. If the UEO is so interested then maybe you can put in a decent bid!"

Suddenly remembering who he was addressing the bluster seemed to leave him and now he looked up nervously at the man sitting across from him. The admiral slowly rose from his seat, deliberately walked around the desk and sat on the edge of it, right in front of Lucas.

"I had hoped you would have the sense to be co-operative about this but I see that hanging around Bridger too long has rubbed off on you. He never did know when to be agreeable either." The admiral interlocked his fingers, stretched and cracked his knuckles. Lucas jumped slightly at the noise but tried to keep calm. This man was suddenly making him very nervous.

"You _are_ going to give me that computer program because you see, I have made promises to other people and it just wouldn't do if I didn't deliver on them. I have a lot riding on this because once we combine your program and a few strategic UEO codes, well let's just say some of us are going to see a shift in the balance of power." The admiral smiled at Lucas with that awful smile again and he felt his skin crawl.

"That isn't what my program is about…" started Lucas but he stopped as the admiral glared at him.

"Maybe not to you but there are a lot more applications than you planned. Now you can either be on board with this in which case I can make life very comfortable for you or…" the admiral paused and stared at the teenager. Lucas licked his dry lips and tried not to let his imagination run away with that "or".

"Or what?" he finally asked.

"I want you to take a look at something, Lucas." As he spoke a vidscreen came to life over by the wall. At first Lucas didn't know what he was looking at but then he suddenly realised he was watching the bridge crew of the _seaQuest._ There was the captain and Commander Ford talking together over the WSKR array. No sound came from the vidlink but a display in the corner showed that this was a real-time feed. Someone was walking around the bridge with a vidcam and nobody had noticed! Whoever it was must be a crewmember or they would have been stopped. The camera must have been well concealed.

As he watched in horrible fascination, Lucas saw that the captain had a cup of coffee that he put down while he checked the displays with the commander. The person who was recording all this walked over to the cup and discreetly dropped a white tablet into it. Again, nobody noticed!

Lucas jumped to his feet as he watched the captain return to pick up his coffee and take a drink from it. "No! It's drugged!" he shouted but of course nobody could hear him. He watched in fear that Bridger was going to keel over but nothing happened. He just kept on drinking his coffee while discussing something with his XO. The screen went blank and Lucas looked back at the admiral with a look of confusion on his face.

"What the hell was _that_ about?" he demanded, fear making him yell the words out.

"Just a little … demonstration. To show you that I have eyes and ears in many places. Even on _seaQuest_," smirked Rogers. "You wanted to know what would happen if you didn't co-operate. Well next time that won't be a sugar pill. Next time your dear old captain will be dead before he hits the floor. And then maybe we'll try Commander Ford just for good measure. Or maybe your good buddy Lieutenant Krieg? What you need to realise boy is that I own you. You could have made this easy but you didn't. In one way that really annoys me but in another I get to have some fun! As long as you are alive you _will_ do as I say unless you want poor Captain Bridger to pay the penalty for your insubordination. Do you understand me, boy? I want that program and I want it by Tuesday. Now run along back to your little boat and get it working properly. Your captain is running out of time."

Lucas had blanched at the man's truly unbelievable words and for a moment he sat in the chair unable to move. This couldn't be happening! But it was. Realisation dawned that someone on _seaQuest_ was quite prepared to poison the captain if Lucas didn't comply with this madman! And he had no idea who that someone was except that they had access to the bridge. That narrowed it somewhat but Lucas just couldn't bring himself to believe that _anybody_ on the bridge crew could be capable of this. This whole thing seemed like a bad dream but he'd just seen the proof. He shook himself out of his daze and looked up into the face of the man who still sat on the edge of the desk. A smile was on his lips but a look of hard steel was in his eyes. This was no dream. It was the beginning of a nightmare.

After Lucas left the room the two men from the other room joined the admiral.

"That went better than expected don't you think?" said Rogers. The other two just nodded in agreement because that was the safest thing to do around this man. "Send the footage onto our contact and tell them we will have the program by Tuesday. Young Mr Wolenczak isn't going to be saying "no"."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thankyou to everyone for your reviews. I'm on holidays at the moment so hopefully I will finish this quickly before I lose my train of thought. Hope you're enjoying it cos I'm having fun writing it.**

**Chapter Three**

Lucas walked out of UEO Headquarters in a daze. He wandered down the stairs and started to walk across the road without looking. The screech of brakes and a string of profanities brought him back to reality with a thud. An irate taxi driver was speeding off down the road, shaking his fist out the window. Lucas ran the rest of the way across the road and stopped on the opposite side, visibly shaking. His head was in a spin and he had to sit down on a park bench before he fell over.

"_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" _he thought. _"You're not much use to the captain if you're dead!"_

As Lucas sat on the bench with his head in his hands, his mind ran through the possibilities. There was no way he could let Admiral Rogers get his hands on the program and do whatever he was planning with it. Obviously there were people involved here who were only interested in their own agenda. He couldn't go back to the _seaQuest_ and tell anybody what had happened. He had no idea who was wandering around the bridge with that vidcam so he couldn't warn the captain. If he gave the game away that person could get to the captain before he could do anything about it. The idea of the captain dying because of his stupidity just didn't bear thinking about.

He had been on the submarine for nearly a year now and what had begun as a testy relationship had developed into something very important to Lucas. Up to this point he hadn't really stopped to define his relationship with Nathan Bridger but now he was forced to realise just how deeply he cared about the older man. His own father had never been around much for Lucas and since he had been on _seaQuest_ the captain seemed to have filled a void in his life. At first it had annoyed him that the man seemed so interested in what he was eating and how much sleep he was getting but that was just because his own father hadn't really bothered with trivial things like that. He'd been far more interested in Lucas' latest scientific developments and the mundane things in life just didn't come into it. Things like birthdays. Lucas had been shocked beyond belief when his friend, Ben had organised a surprise birthday party for him last year. Nobody had ever done that before and he was totally stunned when the captain had turned up with a gift. It was the first time Lucas really knew that the captain was genuine in his interest. This wasn't just some UEO order he had to follow to look after a challenging teenager and keep him out of trouble.

Lucas thought about contacting Wolfman and asking for his help but even that seemed risky. He didn't know if anything had been bugged and he couldn't tip off the crewman with the poison. No, there was no way Lucas could go back and tell anybody his desperate secret. He had to find a way to expose the admiral and work out who the traitorous crewmember was. And he was running on a tight deadline. The admiral wanted the program before Tuesday so that only left him three days to come up with a workable plan.

An odd thought kept nagging at his mind while he chewed over his options but it just wouldn't make itself clear. As he thought back over the conversation with Admiral Rogers it suddenly leapt out at him. Of course! Rogers had said he owned Lucas as long as he was alive. Well, what if he was dead? The near miss with the taxi had him thinking. The admiral couldn't blackmail a dead person and there was no way he could get access to Lucas' program without drawing suspicion. Bridger didn't trust him and Rogers knew that. The crewmember would have nothing to gain by attacking the captain so he would be safe. It would buy Lucas lots of time to figure out how to expose them. Yes, this could actually work. Now all he had to do was work out how he was going to "die".

* * *

The trip back to the submarine seemed to take forever. He had spent the afternoon wandering around trying to think while he waited for the shuttle pickup. Now Lucas sat with his laptop open in the hope it would stop other crewmembers trying to talk to him. Ensign Daniels had tried to strike up a conversation but after a few curt answers from Lucas she had given up. It was obvious he was distracted and she just put it down to his reputation for getting completely absorbed in something to the exclusion of all else.

In actual fact, Lucas was frantically trying to think about how he could fake his own death and make it believable. If he was caught out then Bridger's life was in serious danger. It had to be something that wouldn't leave a body since he didn't have a spare one but it had to leave no room for doubt. If he were on land it would be hard enough but on a sub hehad even less options. He closed his eyes and sat back into the seat trying desperately to come up with an answer.

Images flashed through his mind of the captain and he was stunned to realise how close to crying he was. He had thought they had become good friends and earlier today he had realised it was more than that. Now he finally understood just how much more.

Nathan Bridger had given him so much. He had freely given Lucas his time and attention. The crew respected Lucas as an equal member of the crew because the captain had first given him that respect. He had given him the room and plenty of opportunities to spread his wings and become his own person. The boundaries were firmly in place and though Lucas had resented them sometimes he now knew they were there because the captain cared enough to put them there. When Lucas had childishly pushed them the captain had stood his ground and accepted the resultant sulk or dummy spit. Where his own father couldn't be bothered with all that stuff, Nathan Bridger had shown patience in abundance. Lucas knew the captain cared about him but it finally hit him that he actually loved the captain in return. Today's threat had made him see it for the first time. He had always been reluctant to get too close to people but somehow this man had grown on him to the point where Lucas was actually prepared to put his own life at risk in order to protect him.

Lucas was woken from his thoughts by the sound of the engines powering down. They were docking with the _seaQuest_ and he didn't have his story in place yet. He didn't want to meet the captain and give anything away so when the shuttle doors opened he hung back, scanning the bay to see who was there. Fortunately the captain was nowhere in sight but Ben Krieg was over to one side reading something off a manifest to a young ensign. Lucas ducked behind the person in front of him and walked as quickly as he could out through the shuttle doors and on into the docking bay. Without turning to look back he took off out the large doors at the end. Lucas heard Ben calling his name but pretended not to hear and ran as fast as he could to his quarters. He ignored the looks of surprise or annoyance he got from people he nearly collided with in the narrow corridors. He just had one goal in mind and that was to get there without having to stop and actually talk to anyone.

One down, now he just needed to avoid Bridger and he'd be OK. Lucas hoped the bridge was busy and in need of the captain because he needed all the time he could get to think out his plan. He was out of luck though because not ten minutes later there was a knock at the door. Lucas reluctantly got up and opened the hatch to find Captain Bridger standing there with a concerned look.

"Welcome back! Ben told me you took off from the shuttle pretty fast and I just wanted to check you were OK." Bridger looked at him with obvious worry on his face. "You don't look so good, Lucas. Are you feeling all right?"

Lucas didn't look all right at all. He took advantage of that and made up something on the spot that he hoped would get rid of the captain and leave him in peace for the night.

"I've got a migraine coming on and I just wanted to get back here and crawl into bed. Sorry I didn't stop to see Ben but it was so noisy in the docking bay and I just wanted to get out of there."

The captain looked at the young man with a flash of sympathy. He'd had migraines before and knew how quickly they could come on and how severe they could be if not dealt with quickly.

"Would you like me to get Kristin down here to check you out?"

"No thanks, Captain. I'll be fine. I already took something and I just need to get into bed and sleep it off. I'll be OK in the morning. Promise." Lucas looked hopefully at the captain. He really didn't want to have the doctor down here poking and prodding him. He needed to be left alone to get his plan into gear.

Bridger looked doubtful but agreed that a good sleep would certainly help. Lucas began to pull out pyjamas from his locker before heading into the bathroom. When he came out he looked like he was ready to fall into bed so Bridger headed over to the door to leave. He turned around and looked at the young man before cautiously saying, "How was the meeting today?"

Lucas had his back to the captain and tried to compose his face before slowly turning around. "He wanted to offer me a job but I turned him down. Can't see myself with a UEO deskjob," he grinned. "I'll fill you in on it tomorrow." He climbed into bed and Bridger reluctantly turned out the light.

"Glad you decided to stay with us. Sleep well, Kiddo. I'll catch up with you in the morning." Bridger turned and left Lucas' room; sure that he was missing something important. He hadn't gotten to where he was without learning to rely on his gut instinct and right now it was telling him something was very, very wrong. Since Admiral Rogers was involved that was hardly surprising.

As he walked down the corridor towards his own quarters Bridger saw Lieutenant Krieg hurrying towards him.

"I was just going to check in on Lucas. Is he OK, Sir? He took off out of the shuttle bay like his tail was on fire." Ben looked at the captain with his concern for Lucas written all over his face. He knew his friend had been called into HQ and wanted to know what was going on.

"He's got a migraine and just wanted to get into bed to sleep it off," said Bridger, not quite believing the words coming out of his own mouth.

"Did things go all right with the admiral, Sir? I know Lucas was worried about what he wanted."

"Apparently he offered Lucas a job but he turned him down."

"I always knew that kid was smart!" laughed Ben.

Bridger smiled in return but it was hollow. The lieutenant noted it but decided now was not the time to press it. He would speak to his young friend in the morning and find out what was going on.

"Well I'd best be getting back to the supply list, Sir. Let me know if Lucas needs anything else."

"I will do, Lieutenant. And….thankyou. For keeping an eye on him." Bridger turned and headed for his quarters before anything else could be said.

Ben just nodded thoughtfully before turning towards the cargo bay. _"I always do but something tells me I really need to now."_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Lucas gave himself ten minutes in bed in case Bridger came back. Deciding that his lie had done the trick he jumped out of bed and turned his laptop on. An idea was forming in his mind but he just needed to check the Stinger schematics to see if he could pull it off. While he was waiting for that to fully load he quickly began a search for anything on the admiral. There had to be something that he could use to show the UEO what this man was really all about.

The Stinger came up on the screen so Lucas left the search program to run in the background while he waded through the technical info on his beloved design. It was ironic that the very thing he had poured so much of himself into was the thing he was now planning to destroy. Getting it to run on autopilot was the easy part. Disguising a deliberate electrical overload to make it look like an accident was going to be the hard part. He knew that Commander Hitchcock would go over the wreckage with a fine-toothed comb. As he thought about that he suddenly stopped and sat back in the chair. Katie! She would blame herself for this. He was going to cause her so much anguish. His face creased into a frown at the thought but then he pulled himself back up in the chair and kept searching. She was a career officer. She would understand that he was only trying to protect the captain.

"_If I ever get to explain it to her," _he thought sadly.

After nearly three hours of searching and running simulations on the computer Lucas thought he finally had a way to pull it off. Now he needed a voice recording to make the bridge think he was actually on the Stinger at the time of the "accident".

While he thought over what to put into the recording to make it sound genuine Lucas decided to have a look at what his search on the admiral had pulled up. Scanning through it quickly there didn't seem to be anything useful. Mostly just snippets of press articles that mentioned his name but nothing that really stood out. He wasn't really surprised because it wasn't like the man was going to advertise "I'm a traitor!" on the Internex. It was going to take some more serious searching to uncover what he needed.

Getting back to the voice recording Lucas decided to keep it short as that meant there was less time for anyone on the bridge to react and possibly spoil his plan. When he was done he saved it onto a chip and deleted it out of the hard drive. It wouldn't do if anyone found it there after his "death".

Now he just needed the remote control for the Stinger and the plan was ready to go. Lucas looked around the room and made a quick inventory of what he already had on hand. Bits and pieces of hardware were sitting in a box under the desk as well as various hand tools. It wasn't going to be enough but it was a start. Lucas picked up the yellow vocorder and began to unscrew the back of it. Nobody would think twice if they saw him with it tomorrow. He quickly began to pull out the central computer chip and strip away wires. After two hours of painstaking work he sat back and realised he had run out of supplies. He had used every last thing he could possibly use but he was going to have to go down to the lab to get the rest of what he needed. Lucas glanced at his watch and realised it was after midnight.

"_Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?" _he thought wryly. At least at this time of night it was pretty quiet and he had a good chance of getting down to the lab and back without running into anyone who might ask awkward questions.

"_I can also stop by the mess and get some ration packs"_ he thought. He didn't know how long he was going to have to hide and he was going to need a food supply.

It was nearly 0400 hours before the remote was finished and Lucas was satisfied that everything was going to work together. He just needed to get into the Stinger and do a bit of rewiring but that would have to wait until tomorrow. If he were caught down there now it would look too suspicious when he had his "accident". The ration packs were safely stowed in the air duct above his room and Lucas had taken one last look at the search results on Admiral Rogers. There was nothing usable there just as he had suspected. There was nothing more to do for now but try and get some sleep before he was due on the bridge at 0700 but sleep evaded the exhausted teenager this night.

* * *

It had been a long bridge shift. Bridger had asked if he was still suffering from his migraine when Lucas appeared for his shift looking tired and pale. Shrugging off the concern he had managed to convince the captain he was fit for duty; he just hadn't slept very well. All morning the captain had been casting glances in Lucas' direction trying to gauge what was wrong with his youngest crewmember without embarrassing him in front of the others. Lucas had kept his head down and concentrated on the WSKR update the captain had wanted done. The minute his shift was done he had fairly bolted from the bridge and headed for the Stinger.

As Lucas worked in the back of the Stinger fiddling around with various wires the captain had approached un-noticed. He knew something was wrong with the way Lucas was behaving and put it down to yesterday's visit to UEO Headquarters.

"What are you working on?" he asked while sticking his head around the side of the Stinger.

Lucas jumped and banged his head on the roof. "Ahh. Damnit!" he said while rubbing the top of his head. "Oh, sorry, Sir. I didn't hear you come in."

"Obviously," smiled Bridger. "I was just wondering what you're working on here."

"I just had an idea for an upgrade and I wanted to try it out as soon as possible. I was going to take it for a quick run when I'm done." Lucas held his breath as he waited to see if the captain would stop him going out.

"Well, actually I wanted to have a talk with you about yesterday's meeting and … " the captain left the thought unspoken, waiting for Lucas to pick it up.

"Can it wait 'til I get back? I really want to see how this works," said Lucas trying to put as much eagerness into his voice as he could.

"All right then. Come and see me when you're done and let me know how this upgrade goes, OK?"

Lucas nodded agreement and went back to his wiring. Fifteen minutes later he had the Stinger in the water. Making sure nobody was around to see he carefully climbed into the wall duct which led to the engineering tubes. He had already stashed a laptop in there earlier as well as a few other useful tools. Starting the Stinger up with the remote control, he maneuvered it out through the docking bay and into open water. A small display on the vocorder showed the view from the Stinger and Lucas carefully turned it so none of the WSKRs could pick up that it was driverless.

Captain Bridger had returned to the bridge, still trying to work out what was going on with Lucas. He felt an urgent need to talk with him but Lucas seemed to be giving him the brush-off since he had returned yesterday. He had been on the receiving end of Lucas' silent treatment before but that was always after Bridger had laid down the law and Lucas had decided he didn't need to abide by it. This was very different and Bridger was determined to get to the bottom of it. He couldn't stand the thought that something was seriously bothering Lucas and he hadn't confided in him. As the captain was mulling over this his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a frantic voice.

"Mayday! Mayday! This is Lucas. I have an electrical fire on board."

The words rang out over the loudspeakers as O'Neill tried to establish contact with the Stinger. "Lucas, can you read me? Lucas?"

Miguel was sending a WSKR in the direction of the Stinger's signal when the captain rushed up behind him.

"What have you got, Mr Ortiz?" he asked.

"He seems to be dead in the water, Sir. I'm trying to get a view up now."

"Lucas, can you hear me?" asked O'Neill with an edge of fear in his voice. "Lucas, please respond!"

As the WSKR view came up on the main screen it was obvious that the Stinger was adrift in the current. Blue arcs of electrical current were running down the side of the mini sub. At that moment a brilliant flash lit up the screen as the Stinger was literally blown to pieces before their eyes.

Nobody moved for a few seconds. None of them wanted to believe what they had just witnessed. Tim sat with his headset pulled to one side and stared at the screen. Miguel seemed frozen to the spot while his hand hovered over the WSKR controls, unsure what to do with them now.

Nathan Bridger stared in horror at the screen, replaying the scene in his mind's eye. His legs felt like jelly and he felt the urge to vomit. "No!" he whispered. "Lucas … Oh my God! Not again."

Commander Ford was the first to recover his senses and ordered a seacrab be sent out to search for Lucas. He knew there was no way anyone could have survived that but he had to look anyway. Maybe the kid had managed to get out before it blew. He had breathing gear in the Stinger but at this depth he wouldn't survive long.

Bridger had managed to stay on his feet long enough to make it over to the moonpool. Darwin seemed to sense his distress and had appeared at the side of the pool. The captain leaned on the rim of the pool and tried to speak. The words stuck in his throat as he looked into the calm eyes of the dolphin before him.

"Find Lucas," he croaked. "Please, my friend, find him!" With that, Darwin turned and swam out into the aquatubes and went looking for his friend.

Commander Ford was standing beside his captain and he tried to steer him over to a seat. The man looked like he was going to fall down.

"Maybe you need to go to you quarters, Sir. I can send word as soon as we know anything." Ford gently sat the captain down and looked into his eyes trying to gauge what was going on in his head.

"No, Jonathan. My place is on the bridge. I need to be here. I can't leave Lucas out there alone … I have to … he needs me…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the encouragement. I can really relate to Lucas staying up all night because this story is just demanding to be finished! It's a good thing I don't have to go to work tomorrow :-)**

**Chapter Five**

As Lucas pressed the remote destruct button he tried not to focus on what would be playing out on the bridge. He had to put a dispassionate face on this and treat it like an experiment. It was the only way he could keep going, knowing what he was doing to his friends. He grabbed the laptop and bag of tools and squeezed further into the duct, heading for a place where nobody would find him and he could work undetected.

The engineering tubes were well insulated and he knew that nobody on the outside would be able to hear him crawling through but he tried to move silently anyway. Every nerve was stretched as he prayed that this was all going to be worth it.

On the bridge the search party from the seacrab was reporting in.

"Sir, there's nothing left here that's bigger than a dinner plate. There's debris everywhere but the main pieces have already sunk. I'm sorry, Commander but he couldn't have survived that and there's no indication that he made it out beforehand. Do you want us to head down any deeper?" asked the lieutenant with a grim face. He liked the kid and this was no way for anyone, let alone a 16 year-old to die.

Commander Ford was unable to keep the shaking out of his voice as he replied, "No, bring it in, Lieutenant. We'll send a shuttle down for the wreckage."

The commander turned to face the bridge crew, acutely aware that every eye was on him. He had just announced Lucas was dead without having to actually say it. Ben Krieg stood before him, his face ashen but resolute.

"Permission to pilot the shuttle, Sir?" Krieg was shaking but determined that he would be the one to bring his friend's body back. He at least owed Lucas that much.

"Permission granted. Take Watts with you. Commander Hitchcock will assist you with the Hyper Reality Probe from here. Ford watched as Krieg and Watts stiffly walked out the clam doors. Nobody else moved. The air was thick with unspoken grief and Ford only then remembered Bridger. He turned back to his captain to see that he hadn't moved from the chair he'd been placed in. His eyes were unfocused as he stared at the WSKR view in front of him.

At that moment Kristin Westphalen came running onto the bridge.

"Nathan, tell me it's not …" she started but pulled up as she looked at the captain. His face was enough to tell her the report was accurate.

"Oh my God! Nathan!" she gasped as she crumpled into his arms. The sound of her voice had jolted him out his thoughts and now as he held her while she sobbed the instinct side of his brain kicked in. He had a job to do and there would be time for grief later. His captain's face slipped into place. It seemed a lifetime ago that he had gone down to the Stinger to talk to Lucas and now he was gone. That just couldn't have happened. There had to be an explanation and come hell or high water, Nathan Bridger was going to find it!

* * *

Lucas had found a section of conduit where he could get access to an electrical panel. It would only take a bit of rerouting to avoid detection from the bridge. As he worked away at the wiring, sweating slightly in the close conditions, he tried not to think about his friends and what they were doing. Looking for his body no doubt.

"_I wonder who drew the short straw on shuttle duty?" _he mused.

Having finished the rewiring, Lucas plugged in his laptop. The first job was to monitor any communications from _seaQuest_ that might hopefully reveal the traitor's identity. Setting that program to run by itself Lucas turned his attention to finding the proof he needed to nail Admiral Rogers to the proverbial wall. After exhausting all the regular avenues for information Lucas began to run some basic hacking programs he had developed. He smiled to himself as he wondered what Bridger would have to say about that. The thought pulled him up short and his breath caught in his throat. What would the captain be thinking right now as he thought Lucas was dead? Lucas pushed the uncomfortable thought aside and refocused on the laptop. He didn't have an endless amount of time to find the answers he needed.

Hours later Lucas was beginning to feel the effects of sitting in cramped conditions too long. His leg muscles ached and his neck was killing him. He knew every square inch of space was precious on a submarine and these tunnels had only been intended for access, not camping trips! Frustration was beginning to get the better of him as nothing was coming through from any of his hacking attempts. Damn, this guy knew how to cover his tracks! Deciding that it was time for a short break, Lucas started off down the access tube towards his quarters. The ration packs were still sitting in the duct where he had left them earlier. Crawling carefully and as quietly as possible, Lucas rounded the corner to his quarters. He could see the ration packs further down the tunnel but stopped suddenly as he heard voices below him. He held his breath as he realised someone was in his quarters! Had they heard him? Who was it and what were they looking for?

Slowly inching forward Lucas strained to hear who was speaking. The clipped British tone that floated up to him was obviously Doctor Westphalen.

She sounded strange. Finally Lucas realised she sounded like she had been crying. A sudden pang of guilt rose in his chest as he knew he was the cause of her tears.

"Nathan, he never would have known what hit him. He wouldn't have suffered, I promise."

"I know that. It's just that I could have stopped him from going out. Damn it, I almost did! He just seemed so keen to try out his upgrade and you know how hard it is to say no when he turns that enthusiasm on you. Kristin I could have prevented this …" His voice trailed off as the captain struggled with his guilt.

"You are NOT to blame here, do you hear me? It was an accident. If there is any comfort to be drawn from it at least Lucas died doing what he loved. I'm sure he dreamed about that blasted contraption in his sleep!" she smiled slightly but it quickly faded. No, there was no comfort in any of that She just sat on Lucas' bunk with her hand resting on Nathan's hoping he could at least draw some comfort from her presence.

"Thanks, Kristin. I just think I need some time alone if you don't mind."

She nodded at him and slowly rose from the bed and walked to the door.

"If you need me you know where I am," she replied. What she didn't say was that she needed him at the moment too.

As the door closed Nathan's mask finally fell. The gut-wrenching anguish he had been holding in finally broke loose. He picked up a photo frame with a photo of him and Lucas beside the Stinger. The blonde teenager who smiled back at him seemed so very young and fragile. What had he been thinking to let Bill Noyce talk him into having a kid on board?

"I'm so sorry, Kiddo. I failed you. I never should have let you stay here. If I had been more insistent you would have been sent back upworld where it's safe. It was selfish of me but I just couldn't think of _seaQuest _without you and now look what's happened."

Lucas held his breath and tried not to betray his presence. He couldn't have come this far and blow it all now.

The captain paced the small cabin, trying in vain to release the pain in his chest.

"I already lost one son and that nearly destroyed me. I can't do this again!" The words came out in choked off bits.

Lucas couldn't believe his ears. "Again?" What was that supposed to mean?

Bridger continued to walk back and forth, talking as though Lucas was in the room with him.

"I never got to say so many things to you that I should have. Why do we always delay in telling the ones we love what we want to say? I just presumed you knew how I felt. Now it's too late." Bridger dropped to his knees beside the bed and let the shakes come. He had been holding on so tightly and now his whole body shook with convulsions. He was completely unaware that Darwin was floating in the aquatube watching his every move.

Lucas lay in the duct listening as his friend poured out his heart into the emptiness of the room. So he felt the same way! In spite of the circumstances, Lucas' heart soared with joy. Somebody loved him as much as he loved them! Then reality came back with a start as he realised that the captain was still in danger and he still had to solve this puzzle. He listened through the vent for any sign as to what Bridger was doing now. The captain had dragged himself off the floor and onto Lucas' bunk. Exhaustion had claimed him and he couldn't think of anywhere else he wanted to be right now. This was as close as he could get to Lucas and he wasn't leaving. He grabbed the discarded baseball shirt that lay crumpled up on the bed and hugged it as though somehow he could make contact with the second son he had lost. He laid his head on the pillow, vaguely aware that Darwin seemed to have placed himself on guard duty in the aquatube.

Lucas bit his lip as he debated what to do next. He couldn't risk discovery but he needed to get back to his laptop and the search. The ration packs were just too close to the air duct so Lucas slowly and quietly inched his way back down the way he had come. He wasn't going to have any dinner as long as the captain remained in his cabin.

At last he arrived back at the laptop and quickly checked up on his search. Still nothing! Lucas decided to try another tack with regards to the admiral's files and set the computer off on another search. Multiple threads ran through the man's UEO files and into his personal computer. There had to be something there he could use! There just had to be.

Hunger pangs were gnawing at the teenager as he realised he hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday. He'd been too concerned with other things when he returned from HQ and then today he'd been too anxious to even think about eating. Now he couldn't get to his food supply but dehydration was going to be an even bigger problem than hunger if he couldn't get to the ration packs soon.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Jonathan Ford sat in the command chair and let his eyes scan the bridge. Everywhere he looked he saw grief. Most of the crew moved around the bridge in silence. The only noise came from instruments and occasional brief comments as people spoke only as they had to. Krieg and Watts had just returned in the shuttle with the remains of the Stinger. Hitchcock had guided them from the bridge and helped pick up the shattered pieces from the ocean floor. As expected, there had been no body to retrieve. Tears had streamed down her face in a most unprofessional un-Katielike manner. She angrily wiped them away and turned to her commanding officer.

"Permission to go down to the shuttle bay, Sir?" she asked without looking him in the face. If she could avoid eye contact maybe she could hold it together a bit longer.

"Permission granted, and Katie … this was not your fault." Ford turned her to face him as he seemed to have read her mind. Of course it was her fault! She was the person in charge of developing the Gazelle, oh hell, the Stinger. Lucas could call it anything he wanted if he would just come back through those doors and argue with her one more time!

She turned and walked off the bridge without a word. Ford looked after her and realised nobody was going to make it through this without significant scars. Lucas had a way of growing on you and everyone here enjoyed having him around. What worried the commander the most was what long-term effect this would have on the captain. Bridger had experienced more grief in his lifetime than anyone should have to take. Would this be the last straw that would break his spirit? Doctor Westphalen had gone with him to his quarters and Jonathan had promised to come down as soon as the shuttle returned.

"Mr O'Neill, you have the bridge."

Ford looked up at the Communications Officer and nodded before turning and walking off the bridge. He walked towards the cargo bay, wanting to hurry there but not wanting to be anywhere near it at the same time. He had lost subordinates before but this was so different. None of them had been so young for a start. No death was easy to take but this just seemed so senseless. A brilliant young life, an amazing kid, a caring friend was just…gone! As he rounded the corner towards the cargo bay the commander heard the sound of sobbing. He stopped in the doorway when he saw Commander Hitchcock sitting on the floor, leaning on her ex-husband and crying her heart out. Ben had his arms around her and when he looked up at his commanding officer there were tears on his face as well. Watts was over by the shuttle doors looking over the pieces of wreckage they had managed to retrieve. His face was like stone as he tried to do his job while holding the anger and grief in check.

Ford looked at his people and decided none of them needed to be worrying about this right now. Finding answers could wait until tomorrow. He got no argument from any of them when he dismissed them and ordered Krieg to lock the doors behind them. This was now an official investigation and all of this was evidence.

* * *

Lucas was following an especially convoluted pathway into the admiral's computer when he finally found something that caught his interest. A vidcam recording with yesterday's date was hidden away in an obscure little file. As he carefully hacked into it, checking there were no nasty surprises attached to it, Lucas whistled under his breath.

"Gotcha!" he grinned. For the first time he began to feel that maybe he had a chance here. Playing before him on the screen was a recording of his meeting with the admiral. Someone had been watching their little "chat".

"_He must have been recording this to send it on to whoever he is working with," _thought Lucas. _"Well it's gonna be his undoing!"_

Lucas quickly backed up the recording onto his laptop and then backed out of the admiral's system, making sure he covered his tracks very carefully. Now he just needed to find out who the onboard traitor was and he could reveal the truth. Checking back into the computer log he scanned over the ship-to-shore communications. It was going to take some time to read through them all so he decided to focus on how to narrow them down. There were obvious people he could delete from the search but he had no way of knowing if the traitor had accessed anybody else's personnel codes to send messages. Nobody was above suspicion in that case. This was going to be a long night.

The hunger pangs were really starting to bite now and Lucas' mouth felt dry beyond belief. His head was beginning to ache as his body got more dehydrated. He _had_ to get something to drink. Debating whether to try and get his ration packs or risk going somewhere else, Lucas decided the ration packs were his best option. He set off to crawl back through the labyrinth of engineering ducts back towards his room. As he came around the last corner he slowed down and waited to see if he could hear anything. Was Bridger still in his quarters? After waiting for what seemed like an eternity he finally decided it was safe to keep going. He slowly and silently inched forward towards the precious ration packs. His tongue felt like it was made of tissues. The pounding in his head was getting worse. Crawling along like this certainly wasn't helping.

Suddenly a loud moan made him stop dead. He froze where he was and waited for whatever was coming next. Another moan drifted up through the air vent. Curiosity got the better of him and Lucas edged closer to the vent. As he looked down through the vent Lucas was dismayed to see the captain asleep on his bunk, obviously in the throes of a nightmare. No guessing what the nightmare was about! Lucas felt his stomach twist into a knot knowing he was the cause of this. He felt tears prick at his eyes as he watched his friend, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop this.

He grabbed the ration packs and headed back to his laptop as quickly and quietly as he could. Once he was far enough away he ripped open one pack and downed a juice. Warm dehydrated/rehydrated orange juice. Yum! He didn't care though; it was liquid. He checked what else was in the pack and decided the chocolate bar was the most appealing looking thing in there. It would be enough to keep him going a bit longer.

* * *

In the mess hall a small group of officers sat sipping cups of coffee that had no taste. It's amazing how the senses can shut down when the mind is in pain. Nobody really had anything to say but none of them wanted to be alone either. Commander Ford wandered into the mess, knowing that he would find someone here. He had finally relinquished the bridge to the night crew and even though he was exhausted he had no wish to head to his quarters. He had been down to the captain's quarters only to find he wasn't there. After seeking out Doctor Westphalen in Medbay she had said the captain was in Lucas' quarters and he wanted to be left alone. Ford was too tired to do anything else tonight and he decided to deal with the captain in the morning. They needed to contact the UEO and Lucas' family but that was the captain's responsibility. Tomorrow.

* * *

Lucas sat with his back against the wall and his laptop balanced on his knees. His hunger had gotten the better of him and he had pulled another item out of the ration pack. Whoever designed these things had obviously never had to eat them. He had spent the last five hours trawling through the comm channel trying to find something that would pinpoint his target. His eyes were starting to droop from lack of sleep and he wished he could just dial up a coffee.

Suddenly something caught his interest and he was wide awake. Yes! There it was. An outgoing message to one Admiral J Rogers! It was encrypted as all outgoing messages were but that wasn't going to stop him. As Lucas ran it through a filter he watched the gibberish evolve into English. About two hours after his "accident" someone had notified the admiral. His jaw fell open as he read the ID at the end of the message; Petty Officer Anderson. This guy had been on board for over nine months if Lucas remembered correctly. He had only been working on his program for the last three months. Had the admiral planted him here as a spy and just decided the program was a good target or had Anderson been bribed along the way? Lucas needed to be sure he had the right person and not the fall guy for the real traitor. He started another search to find the connection between Anderson and Rogers. It didn't take long before he had his answers. Anderson had been transferred to _seaQuest _directly from the admiral's office. There was no denying this was the right guy. Now he just needed to work out what he was going to do with the information he had. He looked at his watch; it was nearly time for the morning shift change.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Captain Bridger awoke, feeling like he had been out for a night of heavy drinking. His head ached and his stomach still felt like he was going to be sick. He tried to sit up but the events of the previous day came back to hit him full force and he lay back on the bed. Lucas' bed. He had no idea how he was going to face this day but his years of military discipline took over and he got up anyway. His crew needed their captain to pull himself together.

After stopping by his own quarters to wash his face and get a fresh uniform the captain made his way to the bridge. As he walked briskly through the clam doors he spotted Kristin talking to Lieutenant Krieg. The faces he saw before him mirrored his own. Dark circles under the eyes, many of them red-rimmed from crying. He had to give them full credit that they were reporting for duty as expected. He had only been on the bridge for a few minutes when a typed message appeared on the main viewscreen.

_**Q: What should a damsel in distress do?**_

_**A: ?**_

O'Neill looked up from his station and said, "I'm sorry, Sir. I have no idea where this is coming from." He typed in a few commands but each time he deleted the message from the screen it re-appeared. He tried tracing its origin but he was being blocked.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Ford demanded to know. His face looked like thunder. This wasn't a good time for a practical joke.

Bridger stared at the screen in disbelief. Confusion mixed with hope ran through his mind. Nobody else had been with them after the movie the other night to hear the conversation. It couldn't be, could it? The message continued to stare back at him from the screen.

As O'Neill tried again unsuccessfully to delete the message the captain walked around to his station and laid a hand on his. Tim stopped and watched as the captain typed in one word.

_**Chill**_

_What?_

All eyes looked to the screen to see what would happen next. Another message began to scroll out onto the screen.

_**While I take care of the bad dudes**_

Captain Bridger let out a laugh in spite of himself as he shook his head. He felt his heart skip a beat as he realised it really was Lucas. Nobody else could have known about that. Before he could say anything to explain this another message appeared.

_**Captain arrest Petty Officer Anderson**_

Bridger turned to his security chief and simply said, "Chief, place that man in custody." Anderson looked around wildly as he read the message on the screen and realised its implications.

As Crocker moved towards the Petty Officer, Commander Ford stepped up to his captain. "Sir, what's going on? Why are you arresting Anderson?"

"Because Lucas told me to, Jonathan." Bridger let out a slow breath and looked calmly at his XO. "Chief, escort Mr Anderson to the brig. I'll let you know what the charge is as soon as I know myself."

Chief Crocker had known Bridger for longer than anyone else on board and even though this order made no sense he moved quickly to follow it anyway. If Bridger ordered it, he did it. He marched the Petty Officer off the bridge. Anderson looked panicked but kept his mouth shut as he walked out the doors.

Ford faltered for a second, wondering how to respond to that. Obviously Bridger was grieving and maybe a little disorientated but that didn't explain the messages or what the captain was saying. As he opened his mouth to speak again the main screen came to life.

'Sir, I don't know where it's coming from but we are broadcasting on the UEO emergency band! I can't shut it down." O'Neill just frowned at the screen in frustration because he was locked out of his own station.

The recording from the admiral's office was playing on the screen. It was also broadcasting out to anyone who had a UEO receiver within a range of two thousand miles. The crew stood and watched as the scene played out before them. Seeing Lucas on the screen brought fresh grief as they watched in disgust as a bully threatened the kid and their captain.

Krieg stood with his fists clenched and thought about what he would like to do to the admiral. He had always felt a brotherly protectiveness towards Lucas and now he just wanted to flatten the guy!

Bridger was putting the pieces together as he finally understood the reason for Lucas' strange behaviour. None of it mattered now because he was alive! The captain felt he had lost ten years in a matter of minutes.

As the recording finished and the screen went blank the crew looked at their captain in utter confusion. What the hell was going on? Everyone started talking at once trying to work out just what was happening here.

"Uh, Captain…" Ford started but was cut off as the captain turned back to O'Neill's keyboard and began to type again.

_**Where are you?**_

It only took a few seconds before the answer came back.

_**On my way to the bridge. Just chill will ya!**_

Bridger laughed out loud. Oh this was Lucas all right. There was no doubt in his mind.

Ford was eyeing up his captain trying to decide if he needed to do anything drastic like relieve him of command. Bridger's behaviour was bizarre but given the stress he was under it was understandable. And who the hell was he talking to?

In the midst of the confusion nobody noticed as an officer slipped off the bridge and headed for the brig.

Bridger turned around to find Kristin standing beside him. She too was eyeing him with concern.

"It's OK, I'm not losing the plot Kristin," Bridger grinned at her. "That was Lucas and he's on his way to the bridge."

The doctor exchanged worried glances with Commander Ford and she cleared her throat nervously, getting ready to speak. If she could just think of something appropriate to say.

"Nathan … I know you have been under enormous emotional strain but …" she started.

"I know what you're all thinking but, just trust me, Lucas is alive." Bridger stood his ground as if he was defying any of them to question him further. He knew what he knew and there was no doubt in his mind that Lucas was on his way to the bridge right now.

"Talking about me behind my back?"

Lucas stood just inside the clam doors and grinned at the looks on the faces around him. He was covered in grime after crawling through the access tubes and his damp hair was plastered to his face. Dark circles under his eyes betrayed his lack of sleep but in spite of it all he looked his usual cocky self.

Bridger seemed to make it across the space between them in one move as he grabbed hold of Lucas and enveloped him in a bear hug. He couldn't believe he'd been given a second chance. Kristin ran to his side and was quickly pulled into the embrace as well. The three of them were completely oblivious to the commotion going on around them as the bridge crew reacted to what they were seeing.

Before Lucas had any opportunity to explain anything O'Neill announced that Admiral Noyce was calling through on a secure channel. Bridger turned to face the view screen without letting go of Lucas. He was never going to let him go ever again!

The anxious face of the admiral appeared on the screen. "Nathan! It's good to see you. We've just seen the most extraordinary broadcast here. Care to explain?"

"Before I get to explanations, Bill, you to need to take Rogers into custody. Now!" Bridger fairly spat out the man's name.

"Already being taken care of, Nathan. I've already sent the MP's down to his office. He isn't going anywhere. Now, what the hell has been happening out there and why does half the world know about it?"

Lucas stepped up closer to the screen and tried to find a straightforward way to explain what had happened.

"Well, Sir, you just saw what happened when I came into Headquarters and it's taken me until this morning to work out who was behind things here on _seaQuest._"

Lucas continued to give an edited version of events while the captain and crew listened on in amazement. Suddenly there was a commotion behind the admiral and an aide rushed forward to whisper in his ear. Noyce frowned and then turned back to face the vidlink.

"Nathan, the MP's went to take Rogers into custody and…."

"And _what,_ Bill?"

Lucas stood glued to the spot. _And what?_

"A sniper took him out as they were leaving the building! Whoever he was working with obviously didn't want to give him any opportunity to talk. Don't worry Lucas…we'll get to the bottom of this. I'm just relieved to see you are both alright. I'll get back to you, Nathan as soon as I can."

Bridger turned to look at Lucas, waiting for his reaction to the news. Lucas just shrugged his shoulders, trying not to let on how much he was bothered by it.

'I guess he got what he deserved huh?" Lucas calmly answered. _"Except now we don't know who he was working with!"_

"Captain, I know you all have lots of questions but do you think I could grab a shower before I fill you in? I kinda stink!"

Bridger looked at his young friend and laughed. "Anything you want, Kiddo. But I'm sure Kristin is going to want to check you out too."

Lucas grimaced as he looked over at the doctor who was nodding sternly in his direction. He couldn't help but notice the glimmer of mischief in her eyes and he just rolled his eyes in return.

"I expect to see you in Medbay just as soon as you are done, young man."

Bridger walked over to Krieg and quietly said, "Lieutenant, please escort him to his quarters. I need to check in on our prisoner and inform him of the charges he will be facing. I'll catch up with you both in Medbay."

"Yes Sir," Kreig hurried over to Lucas and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Hey Lucasman. You gave us a helluva scare, kid." Without caring what anyone would think he grabbed Lucas and hugged him.

"Uh, Ben! You're squashing me!"

"Don't care!"

"C'mon Ben, I need a shower," he laughed. Lucas wriggled out of Ben's arms and headed out the door for his quarters.

Bridger and Crocker walked into the brig talking about what charges to bring against Anderson. Treason was enough to send him to prison for the rest of his life. The sight of the guard lying on the floor in a pool of blood set off alarm bells in both of them. Where was Anderson? How had he overcome the guard and escaped? Crocker ran into the cell to check while Bridger rather futilely felt for a pulse on the guard. He had already bled to death but Crocker's face was furious as he came back out of the cell.

"Cap, he's still in there. But he's dead too!"

Realisation dawned on both of them that there was another traitor on board and he'd just silenced Anderson – their only link to the truth.

_Lucas!_


	8. Chapter 8

**OK this chapter is partly JOXER's fault. Thanks for your help and I hope you like it. Thanks again to everyone for your reviews. This was too much fun. Gotta write another one as soon as I get another idea. But first I need some sleep!**

**Chapter Eight**

Bridger pulled out his PAL, frantic to get to Lucas to warn him. "Krieg! Come in Krieg!"

Nothing.

"Lieutenant, where are you?"

"Bridge, send a security detail to Lucas' quarters NOW! I'm on my way there." Bridger and Crocker were already half way down the corridor as he was barking out the order.

Lucas and Ben had already made it back to Lucas' quarters. Ben kept staring at Lucas as though he was some kind of apparition that was going to vanish if he looked away.

"I'm so sorry, Ben. I know I hurt everyone but there was no other way. I couldn't risk the captain…." his voice trailed away. He had been running on a mixture of fear and adrenaline and now as he finally allowed himself to ease up, the full impact of events began to bombard his thoughts. _What if?_

Ben moved over to his friend and started to speak when the door opened behind him and someone burst in. He caught the blur of a uniform beside him before his vision exploded into stars and he hit the floor. An angry welt was forming over his right eye where the butt of a gun had connected. Lucas ran to kneel beside his friend as he saw the gun being waved in his face. Ben's PAL began to beep and the urgent sound of Bridger's voice could be heard. Lucas watched in alarm as Edwards stomped on Ben's PAL and silenced it.

"Get up!"

He looked down at Ben and realised that he was regaining consciousness. If he could just stall a few minutes longer….

"I said, get up!" The gun was still waving before his eyes and Lucas slowly and carefully stood up, never taking his eyes off it.

A groan from the floor drew their attention and before he knew it Ben had kicked Edwards' legs out from under him. The gun discharged as it flew through the air and Lucas scrambled to find it while Ben leapt onto Edwards and pinned him to the floor. All his grief and anger let rip as he smashed his fist into Edwards' face. It seemed the logical part of his brain that would have stopped him hitting a fellow officer had just turned off. He couldn't get a hold of Rogers but he sure had a hold of this mongrel!

Edwards wasn't going down without a fight and he grabbed Ben's hair and slammed his head into the bunk. Before he could take another shot, Lucas had the gun pointed at the back of his head.

"You _really_ don't want to do that boy."

"Don't … call … me … boy!" Lucas was seething with anger. Ben was still conscious but his eyes were starting to glaze over. "Get away from him!"

As Edwards carefully started to stand up Bridger and Crocker ran in. It only took seconds to take in the scene and see what had happened. The security detail was only just behind them and soon the small room was full to capacity. Bridger stepped over to Lucas and gently eased the gun out of his hands.

"Better let me take care of that. Chief, get this piece of garbage out of here."

Turning his attention back to Lucas he quickly ascertained that he was unharmed. Breathing a sigh of relief he knelt down beside Krieg who was struggling to keep his eyes open. Blood was streaming down the side of his face.

"Sorry ... Sir, didn't see him coming."

'It's all right, Lieutanant. Med team's on the way. Just try to stay with us until they get here, OK?"

Lucas kneeled beside his friend watching with alarm as Ben's eyes lost focus.

"Don't think you can get away with sleeping on duty! The captain's watching. Come on man, stay awake." Lucas gently shook his friend while Bridger held a towel to Ben's head, hoping to slow the bleeding. As he looked at the two Lucases that floated in front of him, Ben finally lost the battle to keep his eyes open.

Doctor Westphalen hurried into the room with her team and quickly sized up the situation. Her relief was obvious as she looked at Lucas. She had been fearing the worst when she got the call. Moving with authority she quickly had the lieutenant on his way to medbay with Lucas and the captain following closely behind. As they came through the doors she quickly went into doctor mode and shooed them out of the way. Ben was whisked off for scans to determine the extent of his injuries and Lucas was left to contemplate just how badly his miscalculation had cost his friend.

"_I thought I had it all figured out. Never saw that coming though. I thought I was just so smart and now Ben's hurt because I'm an idiot!"_

The captain gently eased Lucas into a chair. They both had dried blood on their hands and Lucas seemed to be intently focussed on it.

"How did I miss _that!_" Lucas asked, still shaking his head at his own stupidity. "I mean, I hacked into so many files and I never found that Anderson had worked for the admiral. And then I completely missed Edwards as well! And now Ben's in there because of me!" He looked up at Bridger with guilt in his eyes.

"No, Lucas. Ben is in there because of Edwards, _not_ you."

"And it's not your fault you missed their connection to Rogers." Ford had walked in but neither of them had noticed. Bridger stood up to hear what his XO had to say.

"Their records were falsified before coming on board. You only found out about Anderson because I'm guessing you weren't doing a ... um ... conventional search. And you only had reason to believe there was one traitor on board, not two. Captain, Admiral Noyce just called in. It seems that Rogers was part of a conspiracy to seize control of the UEO but it's going to take some time to unravel the leads. Hopefully Edwards will decide to co-operate and help with the investigation."

Bridger nodded in agreement but Lucas didn't seem to be listening. He was still staring at his hands.

"Lucas, I think you need to come with me and get cleaned up. We'll check back on Ben as soon as we're done." Bridger wanted to get Lucas out of there and remove the blood he seemed so fascinated with but Lucas wasn't going to budge.

"No, Sir. I can't leave until I know he's going to be all right. Please?"

Understanding the need to be as near as possible, Bridger reluctantly agreed and sat back down to wait. It seemed like an eternity before Doctor Westphalen came back through the medbay doors. She looked relieved as she briskly walked over to them.

"Well I always knew he was thick-skinned but now I have medical proof that Lieutenant Krieg has a thick head as well," she smiled. Lucas let out a sigh of relief as she continued. "He doesn't have any skull fractures but he did need some sutures and he will need close observation as he has a nasty concussion. He also has a broken hand."

"Can I see him?" asked Lucas, impatient to see the proof for himself.

"Well he's been asking for you but I want you to keep it short." The doctor led the way to where Kreig was being monitored.

Lucas was shocked to see that the whole side of Ben's face was swollen and starting to show an ugly bruise. A bandage covered the stitches and one eye was swollen shut. Another bandage was swathed around his right hand.

"Hey," was all he could manage to get out as he looked guiltily at his friend. "I'm so sorry, Ben."

"Lucas, you got nothin' to be sorry for. I'll be fine. But, there is just one thing…" he gestured for Lucas to come closer as he whispered, "you need a shower man, cos you stink!"

Lucas stood back up and grinned at his friend. Yeah he was going to be just fine!

While they were talking Commander Hitchcock had come in to check for herself just what state her ex-husband was in. As much as he drove her crazy at times there was no denying she still cared. She walked around the bed so she could take hold of his good hand.

Bridger decided now was a good time to get Lucas out of there and he steered his young friend towards the door. Katie looked up at them as they were leaving. "Hey Lucas. I hope you get a good sleep tonight … because we've got another Stinger to start building."


End file.
